Liverpool: DDE celebrates 35th anniversary

According to Mashayekhi, phase one of the playground will include, "swings, a space-net, a stand-up spinner, a four-seater seesaw, a two person seesaw." She added that additions will be made to the playground in years to come as more money is raised.

Along with the playground, which will open on May 21, Sardella said he hopes the school will gain "a sense of community and everybody coming together, we're continuing to build that community spirit."

The nostalgia

One of the teachers at the open house, Larry Segovis, who started at Donlin in January of 1973, and still works there waxed nostalgic at the event.

"Some of my former students have come back as parents, and now I have their children in class," Segovis said. "It's a different feeling, but it's nice, and it makes you feel good because parents are willing to come back to the school district and have their children go to the same school that they went to. It says a lot about the teachers that were in the school at the time when they were here."

Segovis wasn't the only original staffer on hand; Paul McKinney and Sharon Wilson were both part of Donlin's original teaching staff.

"It's nostalgic," said McKinney. "She [Wilson] opened the first year, and I came in the second year that school was open, and it was the best five years of my teaching profession. We were all very young, and very na ve, and all kind of spunky and spirited. We had a wonderful principal, Kate Grummet, who we challenged all the time, and god bless her she put up with us. I taught kindergarten for three years and then fourth grade, some of the best experiences of my life."